Sitting here next to me at a vineyard is my friend Colleen. Colleen and her husband have seven children. Yes, they are Catholic. No, they do not home school (two of the most frequent questions she says she is asked)…
Parenting advice from a mom of seven
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I agreed with everything she said except the mandatory sports rule. Not everyone is wired to like sports. I would let a child pursue their own true interest, as long as they got some physical activity, even walking. Band, orchestra, debate team, and many other clubs ALSO teach discipline, time management, and team work. Too many times a family or a community doesn’t respect the child whose interests and talents are more cerebral than athletic.
I had to go look this book up, as it caught my eye recently. The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. This is the one third of people who function best working and brainstorming alone, rather than as part of a team, and all that they contribute to our world. Music, art, literature, inventions, etc. I am concerned about her system of trying to force everyone to belong to a sports team.
I loved your article Jess — my BFF has five kids and I love love love the chaos at her house. It makes my darling man’s eyes roll back in his head with horror, but nothing cheers me up better than the pack of them — and their friends. I grew up in a pack of cousins, so it feels like home to me. (Plus, she was kind enough to have twins just as I was working through a serious bereavment. Nothing will cure a broken heart like a spare baby who needs to be held.)